


Tuxedos and Teddy Bears

by museicalitea



Series: Leoji Week 2017 [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Glee Club, Alternate Universe - High School, Established Relationship, Injury Recovery, M/M, Prom, Suits, Yuri Plisetsky (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-11-30 08:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11459793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/museicalitea/pseuds/museicalitea
Summary: Progress Report: Guanghong's Misadventures in Bowtie Tying, by Leo de la IglesiaAttempt No. 17Outcome:Guanghong lost his grip on the second fold, then on the whole thing when he panicked and shifted his occupied hand to try and fix it. Stumbled into the desk and knocked a teddy bear onto the floor. Thankfully, he did not poke me in the throat this time round.Flush:spreading beyond the cheeks.Cause:of the clumsiness?Still trying to determine whether it is, in fact, me.(Or, Leo and Guanghong get ready for prom together.)Leoji Week, Day 4: Clothing/Suits





	Tuxedos and Teddy Bears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strikinglight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strikinglight/gifts).



> This takes place well into the second season (if you will) of a [high school glee club AU](http://delicadenza.tumblr.com/post/155479112550/gratuitous-yoi-high-school-glee-club-au-incoming) Meg (strikinglight) and I have been headcanoning like mad over the last couple of months. For context: Leo and Guanghong (and, as they come up, Yuri and Otabek) are all sophomores, the school is Hasetsu International High School in Location To Be Determined, and this takes place pre-Nationals, post-a certain giant flaily plot point briefly hinted at here. More information on the AU in the link above.
> 
> Meg: SURPRISE!!! This was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this prompt, and I couldn't resist even though chronologically this ought to be posted in like 290845 years when we've written everything that comes before it. Hope you enjoy it *v*
> 
> Written for Leoji Week Day 4: Clothing/Suits

The first irony of the evening is this: up until about six weeks ago and the Accident, Leo was the only person in glee club who actually knew how to tie a bowtie.

It’s another of those skills Victor found out about in the sort of way Leo’s wildest imaginings could never fathom, and the next thing he knew, Victor had completely revamped their costumes for their next invitational and Leo spent a solid half hour knotting off bowties for every male in the club. Everyone else begged off, citing inexperience. Leo was doubtful then, but has never found a good opportunity to bring it up since.

The second irony is that he wouldn’t even choose to wear one were the circumstances different.

When it comes to formalwear, he favours skinny ties over anything else (and an open shirt collar over ties in general, but even Leo’s aware that prom requires some kind of neck decor. It’s prom.) But like he told Phichit and Yuuri when the three of them were prom-shopping together, having one arm casted and in a sling isn’t aesthetically conducive to… well, anything. However, according to Phichit, who is much better at clothes than Leo, the best plan for reasons both practical and fashionable was to stay away from tux jackets, or long-sleeved shirts, or wearing any kind of tie  _ but _ a bowtie.

Hence: with two hours to go until prom, Leo’s at Guanghong’s, and the state of the bowtie is fully in Guanghong’s capable hands.

Sitting cross-legged in the desk chair, he’s taken the sling off so Guanghong has more room to work, and even though Guanghong looks anxious about it, Leo’s found that resting his arm on a couple of sturdy cushions is just as good a support. It lets him loosen up his shoulder too, and it at least has healed enough that he needs to keep it mobile. From his perch, Leo has a very clear view of the bed and the pile of teddies snuggled up at the head of it. Several of them have spiffy new bowties that weren’t there last time Leo came round, and it makes him smile. It was a good idea, then, letting Guanghong know ahead of time.

“I might be a bit slow,” Guanghong says as he slips the tie behind Leo’s neck and eases it under his shirt collar. Up close, Leo can count his freckles, though they’re barely visible under the flush rising on his cheeks. It’s always more pronounced when he’s concentrating, and between that and the way he’s chewing his lip as he makes the first bow-fold, Leo sort of wants to tug him in close and kiss him senseless for how unfairly cute he is.

He won’t, though. Even though he came over far too early just in case Guanghong got butterfingers with the bowtie or doing Leo’s hair, they’ve agreed that reckless teen making-out urges are a Distraction and a Time Waster and have to wait til they’re both dressed, but can definitely come before they exchange buttonholes and head to Phichit's pre-prom.

Guanghong slips folding the second bow-end, and he curses softly under his breath.

“We’ve got time,” Leo says, and Guanghong pouts at him.

“I know,” he says. “I just… just…”

“We can leave this ‘til last,” Leo says. “Or get your mom up here, if she knows how?”

“I can do it,” Guanghong says—and there’s a flash and flicker in his voice. It’s that fire and conviction that comes out when he’s trying to prove a point, that sharpness Leo’s used to in the choir room when the prospect of  _ Wicked _ solos comes around, the timbre he hears whenever Guanghong’s having a petty squabble with his mother. Charged with the heat of the blood in his veins, the insistence and importance of  _ being right _ is Guanghong’s mothertongue, and Leo clamps his mouth shut and lets Guanghong pick up where he left off. He’s not the best in school, but he’s smart enough not to pick a fight.

But after Guanghong fumbles the bowtie for the fourth time, it's tempting to nudge, and Leo says, jokingly, “Would it help if I held a teddy bear in front of my face?”

“No,” says Guanghong, even as his flickering eyes say  _ yes. _

Leo shrugs his good shoulder—funny, how quickly he’s become used to only using one—and casts his eyes away while Guanghong loops and folds and pulls and loops and loops and folds and pulls again. This continues for several increasingly long minutes, enough to make Leo regret sitting right here in full line of sight of Guanghong's favourite Evanescence poster. It's very disconcerting, having Amy Lee vampire-stare Leo down from her pride of place over Guanghong’s headboard, especially when he deliberately shifts his gaze and can  _ swear _ her eyes follow his. Leo counts seventeen attempts, of varying length, punctuated only by squeaked  _ sorry! _ s when Guanghong jabs him in the throat by accident, and his foot is starting to go to sleep when his phone buzzes behind him on the desk.

Leo can’t twist to look backwards because  _ this time might be it _ even though he knows in his heart of hearts that it’s not, so he fumbles backwards for it while Guanghong scowls at the bowtie still only half-looped in his fingers. He has to overextend just a fraction because Guanghong’s desk is huge and also a mess, and his bad shoulder twinges. But his fingers hit his phone just then, and his grimace twists into a “gotcha!”

Staring despairingly at his eighteenth failed attempt at a bowtie, Guanghong doesn't appear any the wiser, which is just how it should be.

The buzzing was from Yuri on Snapchat, and even as Leo unlocks his phone it buzzes twice more, now from Instagram. He opens it to see a triumphant Yuri in sunglasses and at least three shades of leopard print but—thank the Lord—an unpatterned blazer, and Otabek, who still looks sort of uncomfortable in the face of a camera but has thrown up a diligent peace sign and is wearing, to Leo’s disconcertion, a leather tux jacket. They have, Leo notices, matching buttonholes, even though Yuri has spent the last two weeks telling everyone they weren't going together. Otabek, on the other hand, has told Leo that he and Yuri are going to prom together, though not  _ together _ .

Now, Leo wouldn't wish an accident like his on his worst enemy, but it did in a roundabout sort of way make him confess to Guanghong, finally. And not for the first time, he ponders how much more massive a disaster is going to be needed for Yuri and Otabek to finally realise they're kinda sorta definitely two steps away from dating and actually do something to acknowledge it.

And then it strikes him that Otabek and Yuri are both ready. If Guanghong descends into a meltdown (which looks increasingly more probable by the minute), he might need backup. It's worth a shot.

So he swipes left, into the chat.

** ME **

> yuri, can beka tie a bowtie?

** YURI **

> BEKA CAN DO ANYTHIGN

** ME **

> if i txt in next twenty mins can you two swing by guanghong’s on ur way to pre’s cos he can't tie mine and i think we're gonna miss the ball at this rate

** YURI **

> HANG ON  
>  BEKA SAYS ALL G

“Who're you texting?” says Guanghong. The flush has spread to his ears, and his pout has started to droop into something less adamant, more upset. Considering Leo has backup now and they still have forty-five minutes before they need to leave for Phichit’s, it might be a good time to call for a break. Subtly, of course, lest Guanghong try to defend his honour on him again.

“Snapchatting Yuri,” he says, flicking through to the stories page. Yuri’s selfie is up there, along with a bunch of snaps from various parties at JJ’s pre-prom function and what is probably a five minute long prom prep story from Phichit, and Leo hands over his phone. “Budge over, I need to pee.”

Guanghong flops backwards onto his bed, already tapping with wide eyes, and Leo tugs the bowtie off before he unfurls himself from the chair.

He gets back to find Guanghong still engrossed in his phone, and it only takes a second to detour via the bed and grab what he hopes will be his outfit’s salvation. A glance over Guanghong’s shoulder shows him a unicorn-filtered, sparklefied-bunny-ears duckface selfie, and it suddenly clicks why Guanghong insisted on him downloading all those weird filter apps he’d never heard of a week after they started dating and why they've mysteriously been eating up so much of his data.

“Who’s that for?” he asks as he sits back down and drapes the bowtie loosely round his neck.

“Sara and Mila,” Guanghong says without looking up. “Mila wanted to see my shirt.”

“Is this about the skull print?” Leo asks—dubiously, because he's certainly never seen any detail through that sparkly unicorn filter. “I think Phichit convinced her it was an urban legend last week—”

“No, she knows the shirt’s real, Yuri told her, but she wanted to confirm it actually has skull buttons,” Guanghong says. With one last swipe and a few taps, he puts the phone down beside Leo and pulls a face as he slips the bowtie back under Leo’s collar. With the air of a man resigned to digging his own grave, he picks up the ends of the tie and takes a deep breath. And now, Leo pulls out his trump card:

He holds the teddy bear he picked up in front of his face.

Guanghong freezes.

_ “Leo?” _

“Carry on,” says Leo.

“What are you doing?”

Leo wiggles the teddy, and Guanghong makes a sound somewhere between a “huh?” and a whine.

“Aren’t you supposed to be tying a bowtie here?”

In front of the teddy, Guanghong’s face has gone bright pink.

“Put my bear down!”

“It isn’t in your way, you know.”

_ “Leo!” _

“Aw, c’mon, give it a try.”

Leo’s very glad he has a bear in front of his face to hide his smirk when Guanghong ties the bowtie perfectly the first go around. It’s unclear if he himself was the distraction or Guanghong was too conditioned to having a teddy to focus on, but whatever. He’ll take the victory.

He lowers the teddy to see Guanghong’s best pout in full force. Without warning, Guanghong snatches up the teddy from his hand and bops him on the head with it.

“I was right,” Leo says as he ducks, and shoots Guanghong his brightest smile for good measure.

“Shut up,” says Guanghong. But there’s no real bite in it, and he doesn’t resist when Leo gets to his feet and pulls him in for a kiss.

“Thank you. Really.”

Guanghong squirms, but it’s the happy kind, and Leo presses in for another kiss. Guanghong’s tongue slips in, hot and sweet, and it sends an electric shiver through Leo's gut. In a moment, as Guanghong pushes against Leo and tips them—carefully—onto the bed, their Get Ready Before Teen Making Out Urges Etc. pact is forgotten.

Twenty minutes later, flushed and panting, with Guanghong's help, Leo finally gets his arm back in the sling. And while Guanghong’s brushing his hair back into some semblance of order, Leo grabs back his phone and opens up his messenger thread with Yuri.

_nvm abt the bowtie I stopped distracting guanghong and he got it_ _  
_ _18:24_

 _U 2 ARE DIGSUSTING GET A ROOM_ _  
_ _18:25_

_we’re already in guanghong’s bedrm_

_and the doors shut_ _  
_ _18:27_

_EWWWWWWWWWWWWW_

_UR GROSS_ _  
_ _18:27_

Leo snorts. There's radio silence for a minute while the typing ellipsis bobbles in place—no doubt more _gross disgusting couples_ vitriol—and then it stops, bobbles once more, and another chat message pings through.

 _BEKA SAYS GOOD JOB @GUANGHONG_ _  
_ _18:29_

“Beka says good job,” Leo says dutifully, and Guanghong’s hands still on his own tie.

“With… the bowtie?”

Leo glances at his phone, then grins at Guanghong like he has something to hide.

“Yuri didn’t say.”

There’s a pause. Then Guanghong’s hands drop and his whole face flushes deep scarlet in record time; and laughing, Leo clambers off the bed and pulls him into a one-armed hug from behind.

“Aw, Guanghong, I’m sorry. I’m just teasing, Beka wouldn't mean it like that,” he says, to which Guanghong just moans softly.

“He’s going to tell Yuri,” says Guanghong, who looks for all the world like he's facing down doomsday. “And Yuri can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“Yuri,” says Leo, “is also super dense. And Beka thinks you’re cool, he’d never rag on you.”

Guanghong makes a face into his mirror, and Leo extracts himself so he can have his mini-meltdown to the best of his abilities. It’s been less than two years they’ve known each other, and in that time Guanghong has grown bolder, stronger, become himself and not the person he thinks the world wants him to be. But small pressures never cease, and he’s still a flight risk when other people’s terrifying opinions of him in particular enter the mix. They’re working on it.

Aside from the mirror framed above his desk, Guanghong has a full-length one on the inside of his closet door. Leo opens it and wedges it against the wall with the wad of blutack stuck there. He steps back, and takes a look.

Between Phichit’s keen eye for fashion and Guanghong’s sure fingers, he doesn’t look half bad. Even with the sling.

_ No one’s gonna stare, _ he repeats.  _ You look fine. Guanghong thinks you look fine. It doesn’t matter about anyone else. _

This is one night where he’s determined to forget about his injury. It’s prom. Everyone’s there for a good time, and no one expects anything from him here.

No one, except him. And no amount of pep talks can get those niggling thoughts from his mind.

Guanghong’s peeled himself off his vanity, finally, and is back to brushing his hair for the third time. Blowing out his cheeks, Leo turns away from the mirror and moves to perch against the desk while he waits. Guanghong’s CD player has pride of place on his desk. Leo’s iPod Classic’s plugged into it currently, playing relaxing music that did nothing to help Guanghong relax, and below that, there’s sheet music stacked atop it. Leo moves his iPod out the way and rifles through it. Some of their Nationals setlist options are in here; they’re finalising that set this week, plus a backup number. Leo’s stomach still twists with guilt whenever Yakov brings that up; after all, if it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have to think of that prospect at all.

The rest of it is full-on Top 40 with tiny pencil flower arrangements and lights and microphones decorating the page. Leo grins. Three guesses what this is for.

“Got these memorised?”

“What?” Guanghong focuses on him through the mirror and his gaze snaps to the music. “Oh! Of course I do!”

And then he sits fully upright, and swivels his chair round to face Leo.

“I still wish you’d come up and perform. It’d be fun. I wanted to sing together.”

Leo’s clutches the sheet music just a little harder. The truth is, he wants to sing with Guanghong. With all the glee club. And he would, he would, except—

“I said I’d be backup if someone vanishes into the ether or loses their voice. We’ve got more than enough singers and Emil’s DJing half the thing anyway.”

Guanghong frowns. “We can never have too many singers.”

“I’m…” Leo shakes his head. “I’m not ready.”

“Leo, we’re going to nationals in a couple of weeks. That’s… that’s over two thousand people. This is just our school. I thought… when you sang that song with Otabek…”

“That’s the choir room. It’s not…” Leo knows how to pick his battles, and the ones with Guanghong are best won like this: he clasps Guanghong’s hand, gives it a squeeze, and keeps his voice sincere to match his words. “Guanghong, I’m gonna watch you kill it up there and be the proudest boyfriend in the world, and then we’re gonna slow dance and it’s gonna be all kinds of epic romantic, and then we’re going to coerce Seung-gil into having fun at prom and we are going to have a good time, no matter what. Okay?”

Guanghong doesn’t say anything right away, and Leo sits back down on the bed. Patience is his virtue, and sometimes Guanghong requires a lot of patience. 

And then Guanghong lifts his chin, and looks through the mirror right into Leo’s eyes.

“Okay,” he says; small, bold. Leo grins back at him, and Guanghong glances to the clock on the wall.

“My mom’s gonna want to take pictures soon.”

Leo squints at him. “We’re not leaving for twenty minutes.”

“We need to have a lot of pictures. A lot of pictures, Leo.”

_ Oh, bother. _

“Phichit’s mom’s gonna take a lot of pictures once we get to his place…”

_ “Photos, Leo.” _

“No…”

“When I'm famous and you're my date to red carpet events there are going to be a lot more photos. You need to prepare as much as I do.”

“That’s years away, Guanghong.”

“It’s never too early to perfect your impromptu photogenicness.” Guanghong leans in closer. “Never.”

Leo’s resistance level to Guanghong’s cuteness and intensity alike is practically non-existent. He’s got no hope of saying “no”, and really, he should just accept it at this stage. He hasn’t yet, but he should.

“Guess we need to get the buttonholes, then,” says Leo. He doesn’t mind photos, really, but… Guanghong always likes far too many photos.

The florist Leo went to packages their buttonholes in little beribboned recycled boxes, and Leo’s glad of it when he sees Guanghong’s smile when he brings it out, wide and delighted. Guanghong’s eyes light up as he lifts the lid and takes up the buttonhole, and Leo’s whole chest warms and lightens. He had it on good authority from Yuri that despite a Vantablack™ tux and the infamous skull-buttoned shirt, Guanghong was still going for a pink tie. And pink doesn’t just mean  _ pink _ in Guanghong language. Leo knows what he likes to wear, and when, and it was almost too easy when he asked the florist. Dusky and deep, with some little orange blossoms sprinkled in between for the sake of, as Phichit would put it,  _ #couplegoals _ .

It’s a perfect match.

“Okay!” Guanghong says once he’s pinned it on. He presses his lips together, just once, and the flush darkens in his cheeks. “Um.”

He rocks back on his heels. “I… I hope this isn’t too presumptuous, but I… um…”

“Guanghong?” Gentle but insistent; this is the only way to interrupt Guanghong, otherwise he’ll start whining, or else he’ll go on all night and then they really will miss their prom. It takes a few seconds, but at last Guanghong’s feet settle and he looks at Leo straight on.

“Close your eyes.”

Leo does.

“Hold…” Guanghong lets out a very shaky breath. “Hold out your hand.”

He doesn’t specify which one—doesn’t have to. Leo waits for Guanghong to curl his fingers round a buttonhole. Maybe it has thorns in it. Or does it have some weird meaning in flower language that Guanghong thinks he might know? Is he trying to change it without Leo seeing? Is that why he’s taking so long? Oh lord, he hasn’t had the florist shape the foliage into a treble clef or something ridiculous like that, has he?

Then Guanghong steps forward, and something ridged and cool and elastic-firm slides over his hand, and small, nimble fingertips pull it down to his wrist. It’s heavy, and it’s definitely not a buttonhole.

Guanghong’s breaths echo loud in the silence as he steps away. Leo opens his eyes, looks down, and draws in a sharp breath.

On his wrist is a corsage. Orange buds, artful greenery bejewelled with pink, a burnished ribbon. It’s the second prettiest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

He doesn’t quite know what to say.

“It’s… this is beautiful. But…”

_ Why this? _

Guanghong reaches out and takes Leo’s hand, and his eyes are dark as he regards the corsage.

“Phichit messaged me photos of you from the changing room.”

Leo laughs. “Of course he did.”

Guanghong smiles at that, tiny and far away. “But I thought—and I was right—you couldn’t really see your waistcoat lapels with the sling there. Practicalities, right?”

That hadn’t even occurred to Leo. But, glancing down and then towards the mirror for good measure, he realises Guanghong’s right. But Guanghong’s still tense, and Leo can feel there’s more to it than that.

“You’re beautiful,” Guanghong says, suddenly, sharp in the silence. His head snaps up, and his eyes lock onto Leo’s, fierce like the entire world swept ablaze. Leo’s breath catches in his throat, and his neck goes warm.

“You’re beautiful, Leo,” Guanghong repeats. “And I love you, and I want you to see that too. I want everyone to know we’re together. I want them to see my flowers on your wrist when we’re dancing, and know that you’re my boyfriend, and I’m your boyfriend, and I want you to know that they’re staring at us for all the right reasons. Because you’re handsome, and brave, and we are going to be the cutest couple on that dance floor.”

The air between them is still with the last vibrance of Guanghong’s words. The burn across Leo’s neck and brushing along his cheeks is fierce, grounding. Guanghong’s stance is firm, and he hasn’t dropped his gaze once. There’s no hint of a fluster about him now.

It’s this, more than anything, that makes Leo realise his every word is sincere.

Leo isn’t sure he’s done anything worthy enough in his life to deserve Guanghong Ji, and it’s times like these, when Guanghong makes his heart swell and his chest go as warm and soft as an autumn sunset that he realises it most.

“You're amazing, you know that?” he says as soon as he finds his voice, and he twists their fingers together and squeezes tight.

“Only as amazing as you.”

And Leo’s about to refute that—because there’s no way on Earth he’s amazing the way Guanghong’s voice has lifted him to be—but there’s a knock on the door.

“That’s probably my mom,” Guanghong says. “Ready?”

_ Ready _ is a relative term. For twenty minutes of non-stop posing and photos, Leo doubts he’ll ever be ready. For Nationals, that effortless confidence he always took for granted is still eluding him. But for prom, with Guanghong by his side—

With Guanghong by his side, Leo could charge a mountain.

So he brings Guanghong’s knuckles to his lips, brushes the lightest of kisses there, and says, with a grin:

“Let’s do this.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Meanwhile, within a twenty mile and two hour radius of this event: JJ has Massive Prom King Drama and Angst (also if you don't think Isabella is getting Prom Queen by the biggest margin in Hasetsu International School history you are Wrong); Mickey stages an anti-prom and Emil stages an intervention; and Seung-gil attempts with little to no success to glue himself to his piano and avoid dancing for the entire event. It was amazing.)
> 
> (...and before you ask I'M SORRY, I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY LEO HAS A BROKEN ARM BECAUSE PLOT THAT COMES BEFORE ALL THIS BUT IT'S DULY ANGSTY/HURT/COMFORTY OKAY)
> 
> UPDATE: courtesy of Meg, [this is what Leo's wearing](https://twitter.com/judgmentarcana/status/966220341897871360), complete with skull arm cast cover which Guanghong has somehow finagled into a sling so they're wearing complementary outfits (kind of)
> 
> Thank you for reading!! I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/museicalitea) and [Tumblr](http://museicaliteacup.tumblr.com/) if you wanna say hi!


End file.
